Institute for Medical Engineering and Science (IMES)

The system either queries the expert to diagnose the patient based on their X-ray and medical records, or looks at the X-ray to make the diagnosis itself.

An automated health care system that understands when to step in

Machine learning system from MIT CSAIL can look at chest X-rays to diagnose pneumonia — and also knows when to defer to a radiologist.

July 31, 2020

Time-lapse microscopic images of particle-based flow visualization inside a ventricular catheter. The image shows the confluence of three flows: the upstream flow coming from the catheter tip direction and two flows coming in via holes facing each other. Obtained from combined fluorescent microscopy videography and optical distortion correction via fluid index matching.

New design principle could prevent catheter failure in brain shunts

MIT researchers propose a design to overcome a major challenge in hydrocephalus catheters — clogging — by leveraging catheter geometry.

July 30, 2020

“Traditional drug development processes are very linear, and they take many years,” says MIT Professor Ram Sasisekharan, pictured here. “If you’re going to get something to humans fast, you can’t do it linearly, because then the best-case scenario for testing in humans is a year to 18 months. If you need to develop a drug in six months or less, then a lot of these things need to happen i...

Rapid antibody development yields possible treatment for yellow fever

The experimental drug has shown promise in early-stage clinical trials conducted in Singapore.

July 29, 2020

Top row, left to right: Lydia Bourouiba, Thomas Heldt, Fikile Brushett, and Asegun Henry. Bottom row, left to right: William Oliver, Michael Short, Vivienne Sze, and Caroline Uhler.

The tenured engineers of 2020

Eight faculty members have been granted tenure in five departments across the School of Engineering.

July 24, 2020

In less than six weeks, a donation drive in Greater China yielded 15,000 N95 respirator masks and 1,000 medical gowns for use in Massachusetts hospitals.

Alumni in Greater China boost MIT's PPE efforts

A six-week donation drive yields 15,000 N95 respirator masks and 1,000 medical gowns for use in Massachusetts hospitals.

July 14, 2020

Researchers present at the MIT-Takeda launch event earlier this year.

MIT-Takeda program launches

Research projects will harness the power of artificial intelligence to positively impact human health.

June 18, 2020

Taking an MIT approach to a return to campus

Data-informed efforts are contributing to the Institute’s ramp-up strategy.

June 5, 2020

An image captured through transmission electron microscopy shows the nanoparticles used to further stimulate the immune system to fight cancer.

A boost for cancer immunotherapy

Engineers design nanoparticles that stimulate the immune system, helping it to attack tumors.

June 1, 2020

A new technology called ELAST transforms tissues, such as this slab of human brain, to make them reversibly stretchable or compressible, as well as much more durable. This allows them to be repeatedly stretched out or squished down thin for much faster infusion of labeling probes, which labs use to highlight cells or molecules under the microscope.

Making tissue stretchable, compressible, and nearly indestructible

Chemical process called ELAST allows labeling probes to infuse more quickly, and makes samples tough enough for repeated handling.

May 20, 2020

Clockwise from upper left: Angela Belcher, Bruce Walker, Jianzhu Chen, Feng Zhang, Siqi Zheng, and Lee Gehrke

Six from MIT awarded research funding to address Covid-19

Multi-institutional MassCPR initiative announces more than $16.5 million to support 62 Boston-area projects.

May 19, 2020

Shriya Srinivasan of MIT is the $15,000 Lemelson-MIT Student Prize “Cure it!” Graduate Winner for her Cutaneous Mechanoneural Interface (CMI), a new type of surgical process for amputee patients that would allow a person to sense what their prosthesis feels.

Top collegiate inventors awarded 2020 Lemelson-MIT Student Prize

Students around the country recognized for innovative solutions to better single-use plastic, spacecraft and aircraft fuel gauges, surgery techniques, and more.

April 29, 2020

Mathai Mammen, head of R&D at the Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson, was the keynote speaker at the Jameel Clinic's AI Powered Drug Discovery and Manufacturing Conference in February.

MIT conference reveals the power of using artificial intelligence to discover new drugs

Inaugural AI Powered Drug Discovery and Manufacturing Conference drew pharmaceutical companies, government regulators, and pioneering drug researchers.

April 27, 2020

Professor Alex Shalek has been named the recipient of the 2019-20 Harold E. Edgerton Faculty Achievement Award.

Alex Shalek wins Edgerton Faculty Award

Professor of chemistry and IMES core member is recognized for his leadership and pioneering spirit.

April 23, 2020

Jim Collins, the Termeer Professor of Medical Engineering and Science in MIT’s Institute for Medical Engineering and Science and the Department of Biological Engineering, is the recipient of funding from The Audacious Project to harness AI for drug discovery.

Jim Collins receives funding to harness AI for drug discovery

The Audacious Project commitment will support the development of new classes of antibiotics to treat the world’s deadliest bacterial pathogens.

April 22, 2020

This scanning electron microscope image shows SARS-CoV-2 (orange)—also known as 2019-nCoV, the virus that causes COVID-19—isolated from a patient in the U.S., emerging from the surface of cells (green) cultured in the lab.

Researchers identify cells likely targeted by Covid-19 virus

Study finds specific cells in the lungs, nasal passages, and intestines that are more susceptible to infection.